Back with part two of our ITCC coverage, we're going to take a run through of the highlights of the afternoon races. The second races of the day were billed as the second rounds of the 2011 championship, so you can imagine just how seriously these guys were taking it.
The start of race two in the Touring class was marred by a red flag (I believe someone jumped the start / didn't get off the line)
The race eventually got underway …
… with a pretty action packed, three-a-*** into the tight hairpin first corner.
However it wasn't long before Mondello Park got to deploy their rather splendid E92 M3 Safety Car.
Back to the racing once more, this time with some Corrado loving especially for Speedhunters regular reader NuggetG60YorkshireUK.
Turn one at Mondello is a proper overtaking corner where the last man to brake can often emerge with the advantage.
Mark Nangle had a huge moment however at turn one. Chasing a pack of three cars into the hairpin, his throttle stuck wide open at the top of fourth gear.
The incident was caught on camera here, the second part of the video footage is on-board with with Brian Fitzpatrick's EF Civic and shows just how close they were to a very, very serious accident. Thankfully Mark's skills as a rally driver came to the fore in helping him to avoid the other competitors and the car escaped with only a broken alloy and some minor bodywork damage.
The DC2 Integra Type R of Robert Savage would eventually take the race two win in the Touring class.
Start of race two in the Super Touring class involved a bit of BMW shaped rubbing in the sprint to turn one. As we all know, rubbin' is racing.
The E46 M3 engined E36 compact of Stephen Maher led the pack coming out of turn one.
It wasn't long however before the Honda CRX and Sierra Cosworth of Rabbitt and Treacy respectively were out front battling for the win.
There was another epic battle behind them however between the DC2 Integra DC2 of Ciaran Timmons and the E36 M3 of Philip Brennan as the Honda battled to hold off the M3.
Eventually after two / three laps of battling and with the crowd on their feet, the BMW made it past. Timmons in the Integra didn't go down without a fight and I'm sure I seen a little bit of yellow paint on the M3 at the end of the day.
Back out front, the incredibly rapid CRX was beginning to pull away from the Sierra Cosworth and Rabbitt was looking good for two wins on the opening day of the 2011 ITCC season …
… but it was not to be. Nearing the last lap of the race the CRX was forced to retire with a suspected broken driveshaft leaving Treacy's Cosworth to take the win in the second Super Touring race of the day.
The win for Treacy and the DNF for Rabbitt in the CRX puts Treacy on top of the championship standings after rounds one and two.
Even after a disasterous start in race one, Treacy is back on course to retain his 2010 championship title.
I'll be back shortly with a desktop and a spotlight on Philip Burdock's Super Touring EK chassis Civic.
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Paddy McGrath